For well over a year now I have been acquiring Apple iDevice products. Everything from iPod to iPad to iPhone to AppleTV. Prior to this, I didn't think much of the products other than they seemed to be a simplistic product line geared toward users who I considered to be less than "power users". After owning and using these products though, and through experiences with its jailbreaking community, I realize that the potential behind the devices is only limited by Apple. If Apple were to unleash the true capability of them as the jailbreakers have, the market for the power user would open up more. The market that appeals to the Android owners. I intend on continuing to jailbreak the devices using tools provided by the community and my opinion of the devices has taken me from a fledgling fanboy to a full-blown one. I'm going to make a next logical purchase soon and will update here once that happens. As an appetizer for you, I have an iPod Touch which is primarily a music device, an iPad which is primarily a tablet computing device, an iPhone which is primarily a communication device, and an AppleTV which is primarily a video device. The next purchase will be primarily something as well but will be different from the others. The TIME will be soon, so keep WATCH on this blog.

Recently I decided to get a paid membership to Apple iOS developers. I have a couple Macs, an iPad, iPhone and other devices so I thought I would give it a shot doing some programming. The side benefit is early access to iOS and OS X betas etc. and so I’ve been using the beta versions for a little while. The other day Apple released the GM seed, “Gold Master” of iOS 8 to us developers and I put it on as many devices as I could. The reactions are mixed. I love the new features and so does a friend of mine. My wife and daughter think they are unnecessary but that’s their perspective owning just one device. I am finding that it’s difficult for me to decide between a jailbroken iOS 7.1.2 device and a non-jailbroken iOS 8 device because of how good the new features are. Combined with OS X Yosemite, iOS 8 has some nice integration features including being able to answer and make calls through my iPhone from my Macs. So lets say my iPhone isn’t near me (ok, probably happens seldom) but I’m sitting in front of the Macbook and Jodi calls me. I can click on the screen and answer the call right there, I don’t have to run through the house to grab the phone. This also works on my iPad 2. If the call comes in and I’m on the iPad, I answer it right there. No need to dig the iPhone out of my pocket for example. The really cool stuff though is related to the iTunes accounts. We have a few and so sometimes one of us has music or apps etc. that one of the other people wants but we don’t want to pay for it again. The cool thing with family sharing is now I can access the other’s purchases and they can access mine likewise. I can also make it so that our daughter Hailey has to ask for and have approval to buy things by Jodi or I. I’ve only scratched the surface of what iOS 8 and Yosemite will do here. If you have an iPad 2 or newer, an iPhone 4S or newer, or an iPod Touch 5th Gen, I think you’re going to love it. I know I can't decide if I will stay using it or go back to jailbroken but it's a tough decision... thanks Apple...

When the iPhone 5S came out, the specs and new features, to me, didn't warrant the $200 upgrade price tag since I already had an iPhone 5. With the recent news of the price being lowered to $100 I would say its time to re-evaluate that position.

Currently here's the break down:

Dan - iPhone 5

Jodi - iPhone 4S

Hailey - iPhone 3GS

Ethan - iPhone 3GS (inactive)

So $100 would make that:

Dan - iPhone 5S

Jodi - iPhone 5

Hailey - iPhone 4S

Ethan - unchanged

*spare iPhone 3GS can either be saved for emergencies or resold

So when you look at it from that perspective, $100 really gets us 3 upgrades and the ability to sell off a 3GS. This also meets Hailey's desire to have a iOS 7 powered iPhone with Siri.

For some time now I have used iDevices (iPod Touch, iPad, iPhones) and have enjoyed the look and feel of the hardware as well as the experience of the iOS and apps that are available. In the past I have dabbled in programming and now I find that I would like to learn how to program for iDevices. Necessity being the mother of invention, I would start working on apps that I want to see but don't exist yet or ones that do exist but I think I could do better. Ideally, I would come up with these and in some cases charge a modest price for them (maybe $0.99) If that works and people buy the apps, conceivably the money invested in learning and designing the apps could be recovered and hopefully even add a little extra income. The first hurdle though is getting the development equipment to get things going, namely a Mac Mini. I already have test equipment to test the apps, my iPad 2, my iPhone 5, my iPod Touch. I just need to have something powerful enough and with the right capabilities to produce the software apps. What would really be cool is once I get the hang of building apps for iOS, that I could start porting those apps to Android and be able to take advantage of that market as well. It sounds like Mac hardware and android development software run really well together which is a bonus. If that's not all, a Mac Mini would be very portable and would even allow me to use Windows via bootcamp etc. So once I can get past the hurdle of not having a Mac Mini, I can get the ball rolling on this...

I have been a Twins fan since I can remember learning who they were so lets say approximately 30 years. I have been to numerous games, mostly at the HHH Metrodome. I can remember the awesome sound the fans made when the Twins were hot, or needed a push from the fans to be hot. They used to call it the Thunderdome when the fans would generate so much sound that a jet plane paled in comparison. Today was the first time I sat in that stadium rooting for the Vikings instead of the Twins and let me tell you, it was beyond Thunderdome in there. There were times I thought I might actually lose my hearing it was so loud. That's one thing I miss about watching the Twins play there. Don't get me wrong, Target Field is a gem of a baseball stadium but there was something empowering about being a fan going to see them play in the dome, that you could actually contribute to a noise so loud it would confound the opposing team and make it easier on our guys. It made you feel almost like a part of the team. I'm by no means a big football fan but it was nice to feel like part of the team again in the Thunderdome.